Mental Health 'Parity' Bill

Finally, someone has a little bit of sense.  Quote from the article in the Washington Post: Bush Plans to Endorse Mental Health 'Parity'

President Bush is close to agreement on legislation forcing employers to expand insurance coverage for psychiatric illnesses, a position urged by mental health advocates but one that has been opposed by business groups and several key Republicans.

Apparently the "business groups and key Republicans" are perfectly happy to pay out when the body stops producing one chemical (like insulin), but flat out refuse when the body stops producing another (say serotonin, dopamine, norepinephrine, [insert neurochemical here]).

This refusal turns mentally ill people into second class citizens, because if they had a "real" illness, the insurance would cover it, therefore people must be faking an illness that "doesn't really exist."  Hogwash!  Mental illnesses do exist, it is crazy to declare that any other part of the body may malfunction, but the brain must always work perfectly.  The brain is a bodily organ, like any other, and can be less than perfect, just like a pancreas, a liver, or a heart.

Good on President Bush, this is much needed legislation.